Raven… I am on my 3rd digital camera. If you’ve seen me around or been to my booth or could even begin to look inside my computer, you would know, needless to say, I like to take pics of stuff. And, let’s just say I keep the battery companies in business! LOL :)

Anyway, to answer your main question about your camera. I am sure it is fine. I am not familiar with the Canon SureShot, except that I have heard of it. My first 2 were HP’s. The 1st had a really cool infrared eye that talked directly to the photo printer I bought with it way back (prob abt 10 yrs ago).

The camera I currently use is a Pentax K200D. It was a gift.

One thing I have learned over the years is this…Digital cameras suck the life out of batteries regardless of which ones you use.

Reasons for battery drainage in digital [URL removed] flash, displays, forgetting the camera ‘on’, etc. The biggest drain on digital cameras is the back display where you can look at the item on the backside of the camera while you are taking the picture. Mine has the display, but it is for playback only, which, btw, also uses battery. This record/playback display screen sucks batteries dry. I highly recommend using the viewfinder instead of these displays. Instead of taking time to center the image on that little screen, take several pics instead in different lighting and angles. You can always pick the best photo and you can edit in your camera’s software or any photo editing software. Always remember to shut your camera down when not in use, unless it has an auto shut off. My Pentax has an auto shut off. If it doesn’t take a photo in a specific amt of time, it goes into power saver mode.

About the batteries…

Most digital cameras will tell you to use lithium batteries only for better results.

Now, having said that, here is what I have found on each battery type.
Alkaline Batteries…
Alkaline batteries DO NOT work well with digital cameras. They are great only if in a pinch. [URL removed] your batteries died and you need something quick. I DO NOT recommend alkaline batteries for another reason, and this may very well be a camera specific issue. The reason is the 1st HP camera I had I used alkaline batteries in a lot. When the batteries died, the camera would sometimes freeze up. In time, it would freeze up every time the batteries died.

Rechargeable Batteries…
Rechargeable batteries if used a lot will eventually no longer charge. They are unreliable if you take a lot of pictures and use them a great deal. As I said, I use my camera a LOT! I almost always had batteries recharging. Sometimes, the chargers would mess up and no longer work properly, but mostly the batteries lose the ability to charge. You are then buying new rechargeable batteries. I was buying them almost constantly. After these have been recharged enough, they don’t even last as long as the alkaline batteries. I no longer have rechargeable batteries because they all died. They are no longer holding charges; so, they’re in the trash.

Energizer Ultimate Lithium Batteries…
These are the batteries I use in my Pentax. I rarely change the batteries. Seriously. They last longer than alkaline and longer than rechargeable. I buy them at Sam’s Club because I can get, I think, 2-3 4pks in a pkg. They last me quite a while. For example, the last time I bought them at Sam’s was in December. My camera takes 4 batteries or one little 4pk box. I have been photographing wildflowers and spring flowers like crazy. Almost maxed out my camera’s card at least 2-3x, not counting the in-between times when I emptied the card without it being full. The card holds 400 pictures. In addition to flowers, I have new baby kitties that have been photographed to the hilt. Not to mention all the pics I took during all the TX snowstorms this winter. (Did I mention I like taking pics? LOL) These are the only batteries I use now. Period. I have only used alkaline batteries in the Pentax once, when I ran out of lithiums and hadn’t made it to Sam’s yet.

Invest in Energizer Ultimate Lithium batteries. They are worth the money. Also, always have back-up batteries; so, when they go dead unexpectedly, you have back-up. Alkalines & rechargeables are unreliable for the reasons stated above.

Hope that helps.
Robyn

P.S. I thought batteries could be put in the refrigerator not the freezer for longer life?

Hi,
I would try a different brand of batteries. I found the store brand usually doesn’t last as long as Energizer or other name brands.
There is an expiration date on the battery package that is barely visible unless you really look for it. It’s possible you bought an outdated package.
Good luck to you!

I have experienced the same thing with my Canon Power Shot.

Everyready does sell a battery that is great for digital camera’s. It is silver and says either 7XXX or 8XXX on the package.

I started using the Energizer Ultimate Lithium batteries for my camera
They cost more but last a real long time, so it is for sure worth it.

Someone also told me that it would help them last longer I take my batteries out of my camera when I am not using it. Not sure this is true but I suppose its worth it too. Hope this Helps. :) Hugs! Judy

The best birthday gift I received was a duracell battery charger. I just recharge now. Hope this helps.

I agree with alices, rechargeable batteries are what I use. I used regular energizers one time and they were done in no time at all and the camera didn’t work right either.

I agree with Judy. The batteries I eventually bought said, I think, that they lasted 7X as long. I found this to be true and they may have actually lasted longer than that.

I purchased mine at BJs and so they really didn’t cost much more than regular batteries anywhere else.

One caution though. Battery power does drain over time, even when not used. We used them in both my daughters’ cameras and kept extras in the camera case. The problem was they lasted so long that by the time we were ready to replace them, the extra batteries were drained of power as well.

My suggestion is buy them in the smallest quanties you can. It may be a bit more per battery up front, but you won’t find yourself throwing away unused, but dead, batteries.

Ditto on Canon Power Shot models. I’ve got 2 diff. ones and they are terrible on regular batteries. But the good news is, if you’re traveling, the batteries can be easily purchased at the local drug store, market, etc.

I agree w/ [URL removed] the Energizer Ultimate Lithium batts do get considerably more bang for the buck. Pricy, yes. But you’ll be pulling your hair out alot less often.

For taking photos of items, though, I broke down and bought the Canon AC Adapter. It’s really paid for itself time and again. The correct adapter for your particular camera will probably be identified in the back of the users manual under accessories.

Mine did the same thing. I got rechargeable batteries, you can find them pretty cheap if you look, they have saved me a fortune.

mine was doing the same thing, I was lucky to get 1 picture per set of batteries! So just this week i got out the rubbing alcohol and qtips and cleaned the battery contacts in the cam, It worked and i now have a working cam!

Litium batteries are made for electronics like cameras and such, so they last a lot longer than alkaline batteries do. You are lucky to have gotten that many pictures off regular alkaline batteries. The last camera I had I tried pictures using alkaline batteries and could only get about 15 to 20 pics. With the lithium batteries I could get hundreds on one charge.

Someone mentioned the battery rechargers. They are very awesome, but make sure you get the lithium rechargables. They are more expensive, but the price is worth what you will save if you take a lot of pictures.

Batteries do have a shelf life, but if you store them in the freezer they do last longer also. So when you buy a new pack (regular kind, not rechargable) store it in the freezer. When you are not using your camera, you might also take the batteries out and store them in the freezer.

Glad this question was asked! I have had the same problem with batteries going dead really fast, also. I found some very helpful tips here…I’ll give them a try. Thanks!!

I trust Eveready….more than Duracell….Also you can cut seconds of the digital display, cut seconds when the camera is on, and not used and use Eveready rechargeable batteries.

Momspennies, I believe those are the same ones that I am talking about.

Steve…I think it depends on how high your resolution is set for. You can use the lower resolution for posting on the internet. If you are taking pictures to print out, you may want to go higher.

The warm battery thing is normal when you use it a lot. Also, even if you aren’t taking pictures, it’s still using battery juice, but only slightly.

Some folks have a certain condition similar to Spontaneous Human Combustion that when handling batteries, the life span is shortened dramatically. It can be abruptly triggered mid-life when a rather sedentary lifestyle sets in… taking photos and posting items for sale may have done the trick in your case. I wish I could tell you more!

I had the same problem with my previous camera. New one has the Lithium battery and it lasts much longer per charge. I currently have a Sony Cyber-Shot 12.1 megapixels. It came with this lithium battery and charger. No worries now about dead batteries when I’m getting ready to photo and list.

I use Kodak brand rechargeable camera batteries. They’ve been great. I have 4 of them. I leave two on the charger and two in the camera.
When camera set are running down, I switch them with a fully charged set and I’m shooting again. I’ve been using the same 4 batteries for about 3 years now.

I use rechargeable and they are over two years old and they are the best! Paid fpor themselves over a dozen or more times! All my camaras use rechargeables and I am glad I went that way! Takes little time to recharge them and I can always use the set I have ready to go!

I have found the better brands are the best. I use Everready brand.

Freezing batteries is not a good idea. It drains them. I know they used to say store them there, but its not good. In fact when we leave our flashlites in the cars for the winter, they die really fast. A cool dry place is recommended now.

We also use rechargeable batteries now. Between my pictures and my sons electronics, we use to go through so many of them. They still do, but now they are rechargeable. The initial cost was a bit more, but they have more then paid for themselves over time.

I worked in Electronics for years. I sold cameras and accessories. The one thing that made a huge difference in how a camera functioned was the type of batterys used. Put a Duracell in and the camera will function properly, but with any other non rechargable battery, they would not function as they were designed to.

I suggest you go for the Duracell, either rechargable or non rechargable, and it should work fine.

I have a Kodak digital camera and I love the camera, but Kodak batteries aren’t worth a poo poo.

when mine did that I got a panasonic DMC-FP8 it has its own (flat) battery comes with a charger you plug it into an outlet to charge. I was spending a fortune also! I think they just get old (to quickly)

I used to own the Japan Camera in North Vancouver so I know a fair bit about batteries and camera’s. To be honest there is a difference in alkaline batteries. As to using rechargables in a sure shot I wouldn’t unless you want to pop them every 10 pics or so. Rechargables are 1.25 volts at 250ma. An alkaline is 1.5 volts at 300 ma. However you can get Lithium based AA’s and they are fantastic. Also Everready Photo batteries are great in the AA. I use in my SLR’s and Flashes both of these and as a result I never worry.

New camera’s use a lithium ion rechargable pack that keeps the MA’s up and the voltage steady unlike the rechargable AA’s.

As to the heat that is produced when the camera tries to draw more Amps then are avaliable. It causes the batteries to drain even faster. The chemical discharge rate increases as the heat goes up. Which is why you should keep your unused fresh back ups in the fridge.